Cover

Title Page, Copyright Page

Contents

Preface

Are regulations job killers or job creators? This question has dominated
much public debate in the United States during the past several years as
the nation has suffered sustained high levels of unemployment. Some
politicians espouse the view that regulations are job killers, while others...

1: The Jobs and Regulation Debate

The Great Recession wreaked havoc on employment in the United States.
Even as the overall economy officially began to pick up by the middle of
2009, the American labor force still struggled to rebound. Month after
month, millions of workers lost their jobs and millions more continued...

Evidence

2: Analyzing the Employment Impacts of Regulation

Prior to the current economic downturn, neither the creation nor the
destruction of jobs was a major concern about the effects of regulation.
In contrast, the term “ job- killing regulations” has now become a rallying
cry for regulatory opponents, just as the exaggerated claims of job...

3: Do the Job Effects of Regulation Differ with the Competitive Environment?

Prior to 1970, environmental regulation was primarily the responsibility
of state and local agencies— for the most part with limited enforcement
activity. After the formation of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) in the early 1970s and the passage of the Clean Air Act...

4: The Employment and Competitiveness Impacts of Power-Sector Regulations

In the debate over environmental regulations, a principal concern is
the potential impact on employment in the more energy- intensive U.S.
manufacturing industries. Although the academic literature and agency
practice in regulatory impact analyses have estimated the direct effect...

5: Environmental Regulatory Rigidity and Employment in the Electric Power Sector

In recent decades, there has been recurring interest in the extent to
which implementing environmental regulations to reduce bad outputs
(for example, sulfur dioxide, or SO2 emissions) adversely affects the ability
of an economy to produce its marketed good outputs (see Pasurka
2008). This concern has emerged because with a fixed technology and...

Analytics

6: Toward Best Practices: Assessing the Effects of Regulation on Employment

A poorly performing economy, accompanied by congressional proposals
to curb regulation and new research on regulation’s effects on employment,
has led to increased interest in incorporating employment impacts
into regulatory analysis. Both the extent to which such impacts are...

7: Emitting More Light than Heat: Lessons from Risk Assessment Controversies for the "Job-Killing Regulations" Debate

Although we can choose to think descriptively, quantitatively, or both
when we evaluate the pros and cons of whether and how to attack a hazard
to health, safety, or the environment, both political leaders and the
public increasingly expect that numbers will play a central role. And not...

The income effects of unemployment have been much studied (Davis
and von Wachter 2011). Reduced income, in turn, means reduced consumption:
the value (at market prices) of the goods and services that an
individual purchases and utilizes. However, it is clear that unemployment...

9: A Research Agenda for Improving the Treatment of Employment Impacts in Regulatory Impact Analysis

Benefit–cost analysis (BCA) is one of the dominant paradigms for evaluating
regulatory decisions. In 2011, President Obama reaffirmed BCA’s
role with Executive Order 13563 (Obama 2012). Not surprisingly, new
political appointees and other senior policy officials are always anxious

When economists perform a benefit– cost analysis (BCA) of a public
project or policy, they think of it as summarizing the real effects of the
decision on public welfare: the well- being of real people, measured according
to people’s own preferences. The methods they use are specifically...

Reform

11: Unemployment and Regulatory Policy

Unemployment is generally thought to be a problem that is best addressed
with fiscal and monetary policy, not with regulations. But regulatory
agencies have long tried to calculate and respond to the possible
unemployment effects of regulations. Some statutes require agencies to...

12: Reforming the Regulatory Process to Consider Employment and Other Macroeconomic Factors

The issue of unemployment is never far off of the national radar. During
the Great Recession, it was at the forefront of policy debates, with
both parties claiming unique solutions to lingering high unemployment
rates. In the past few years, the role of regulation has also become...

13: Analysis to Inform Public Discourse on Jobs and Regulation

Despite the fact that job impact analysis poses steep challenges and is
unlikely to substantially alter most regulatory choices, there are good
reasons to integrate employment effects into cost– benefit analysis of
federal rule makings. Cost– benefit analysis not only offers government...

14: Rationing Analysis of Job Losses and Gains: An Exercise in Domestic Comparative Law

The issue of whether to quantify, monetize, and include the job losses
(or gains) in the benefit– cost analysis conducted prior to adopting
major rules is hardly unique in American law. Many analogous situations
exist in which a policymaker must decide in advance of conducting...

Contributors

Index

Acknowledgments

Producing this book has been a team effort. Not only did three editors
collaborate in planning, writing, and editing, but we brought together
19 thoughtful scholars and practitioners to author chapters. We thank
first and foremost these authors. Their willingness to participate in this...

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